Manchester United completed their five-match pre-season programme in the United States by settling on old score even though a 'friendly' victory over their European Cup conquerors hardly rates as a momentous one.

Michael Owen's 76th minute winner, his third on the tour, which followed a Nani opener and an equaliser from Thiago maintained United's 100 per cent record, scoring 20 goals and conceding three.

United, roasted in the Champions League
final nine weeks ago, could hardly have been less accustomed to playing
in such furnace-like conditions on an evening when the temperature
inside the magnificent FedEx Stadium on the outskirts of America's
capital city was the kind of lure that is the stuff of package holidays
in Spain.

After a day when the thermometer rose to above 100 degrees, a drop of five degrees by kick-off time offered meagre comfort. But any expectation of football played at an ambling pace was quickly dispelled by the game's quite obvious competitive edge.

If United burned with revenge for their 3-1 defeat at Wembley, Barca were clearly in no mood to roll over judging from the way the pressed their opponents whenever they had possession and tackled fiercely enough for Jonathan dos Santos to receive a yellow card for toppling Ashley Young on the half-hour.

Crunching: Young buckles under Dos Santos's challenge

But the Spanish club were without a trio of their Cup-winning heroes Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Dani Alves - and it showed.

Not that United were at full strength either. Sir Alex Ferguson's starting line-up provided the United manager with an opportunity to test the calibre of first-team aspirants such as Jonny Evans, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck and he must have been happy with their contribution.

The response of the 81,000 strong American crowd (their fifth record attendance on the trip) to any incident underlined the fact that, not only was there growing enthusiasm for the sport but also an awareness of its finer points.

Getting shirty: Rooney tussles with Dos Santos

The thousands wearing United shirts threw up their hands in despair when Wayne Rooney wasted a great chance to give his side a 10th minute lead, shooting wide from eight yards.

But the disappointment turned to delight when Nani scored in the 22nd minute. The Portuguese winger, timing his run perfectly to beat the Barca offside trap, raced on to Danny Welbeck's precision pass and shot through Victor Valdes's legs.

On the mark: Nani put United ahead

United clearly bossed the first half but all their good work would have come to nothing had Ibrahim Afellay been more accurate in the 36th minute but the Dutchman was so off target with his shot it almost hit the corner flag.

Ferguson brought on Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen and Chris Smalling for Anderson, Rooney and Patrice Evra for the second half, underlining that the real purpose of the game was to hone the match fitness of as many players as possible while adhering to the United tradition of showing a distinct aversion to losing.

Gabriel Obertain replaced Young in the 62nd and four minutes later was involved in a great United move which ended with Valdes making a fine diving save to deny Wellbeck.

Transfixed: Anderson can't take his eyes off the ball

If the Barca fans felt they were cheated by the absence of much of their team's Wembley magic, their wishes were granted by two examples of skill - one which should have produced a goal and another which did.

David De Gea just managed to get a hand to the ball to foil Thiago after a superb chip by Iniesta in the 66th minute.

But four minutes later United's new keeper was beaten all ends up when Thiago's viciously swerving shot flew into the top left hand corner.

Hands on: De Gea thwarts Alcantara

It took United just six minutes to restore their advantage with a goal from Owen that was a throw-back to his glory days with Liverpool and England.

The 31-year-old striker strode on to a neat pass from Cleverley and beat Valdes with a delicate chip over the diving keeper.

But Owen will rue missing a sitter right on the 90th minute when he somehow contrived to shoot over from six yards out with only Valdes to beat.